Many Spanish people have, at one time or another, thought of buying a house on the beach. Summer is here and very often the issue of buying a second home arises as it will allow us to use it during the holidays. The most sought-after destination for Spanish people is, undoubtedly, somewhere on the beach. Some time ago, we wrote an article in this blog about the increase of second homes in Spanish real estate. We stated that this rise mostly took place along the coast. The burst of the real estate bubble led to difficult years especially regarding second homes. However, at present, this sector is little by little pulling through. Nowadays, due to the recovery of the real estate market, more and more Spanish people are considering the option of buying a house on the beach. Spanish people have always been seduced by the idea of being able to disconnect from the routine, especially next to the sea where they can enjoy good food or have a refresing swim. What is the Spanish real estate market like on the beach? What are its characteristics?

A LURE FOR THE FOREIGN BUYER

We can say that the main change that the Spanish real estate market has gone through, is how it is currently being used. Before the property bubble burst, most of these properties were meant for business. However, at present, this circumstance has changed. Currently, a house on the beach is not bought so as to sell it later on in order to earn money. Now it is bought because people want to have a second home, and this means that the environment is becoming more and more humanized in contrast to the previous cold and impersonal atmosphere with few neighbours and hardly any social life. On the other hand, the Spanish coastline is an important lure for other European countries such as Great Britain (that is at the head, even though Brexit has led to a drop regarding British clients who wish to invest on Spanish property), France, Germany or Sweden. Our sunshine and our food seduce the foreign homebuyer. Therefore, if we decide to purchase property on the beach, we must know that we are very likely to have foreign neighbours. We must bear in mind that newly built houses on our coastline are very high quality. They have nothing to do with the huge concrete buildings of the 50´s and 60´s. This fact is greatly appreciated by the international buyer. The residential product which is offered is really top quality and this also attracts homebuyers.

XXI CENTURY BUILDINGS

We want to mention another important characteristic of current Spanish real estate on the coastline. This is the respect for the environment and its commitment to sustainability, both of which never took place decades ago. Things have changed and we live in the XXI century where there is general awareness regarding livability of new buildings and their impact on the environment. Some weeks ago, in this blog, we wrote an article about nearly-zero consumption buildings. We must point out that coastline property does not stand apart from this reality. More and more coastline houses are being built with Energy Performance Certificates as well as being oriented to renewable energy. Furthermore, technology is present in these type of houses. Nowadays, intelligent buildings are constructed. Therefore, new buildings on the coastline must have home automation systems which can regulate, through technology, the different aspects of the house.